Eli's BBQ, chocolate maker coming to Findlay Market

Eli's BBQ and Maverick Chocolate Co. will open at Findlay Market within the next few months, Bowdeya Tweh reports:

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A craft chocolate maker and a barbecue restaurant are Findlay Market's two newest businesses that will open within the next few months.

Findlay Market's operator and the city of Cincinnati said Tuesday that Maverick Chocolate Co. and Eli's BBQ are the newest tenants occupying two redeveloped Elder Street storefronts.

Joe Hansbauer, president and chief executive of the Corporation for Findlay Market, said a third storefront in between the two businesses is available for lease after it was also redeveloped.

The new tenants helps beef up offerings on the south side of the market after German grocery products seller Krause's closed earlier this year.

More than 10 new businesses have launched at Ohio's oldest continually operated public market in the past five years and Hansbauer said the increased interest in helping more businesses see the opportunity available.

Maverick Chocolate is an upstart business that Newport husband and wife Paul and Marlene Picton, have started. Paul Picton describes the Maverick Chocolate as an American-style bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker.

Equipment will be installed in the 700-square-foot space so customers visiting the 129 Elder St. store can see chocolate being made. Picton said the roasting, grinding, tempering and packaging of chocolate bars will be done on site. Different bar flavors will be available ranging including bourbon and espresso dark chocolate to white chocolate.

Elias Leisring, co-owner of Eli's BBQ, said the 1,000-square-foot Over-the-Rhine outpost should be open by the summer and could employ between 30 and 40 people.

Eli's BBQ, which has a larger restaurant in East End, said locating in OTR helps expand the restaurant's reach and expands relationships that already exist with the customer base and nearby vendors.

"Now, we're building our portfolio," Leisring said. "This is a great addition to Eli's BBQ. It can serve some of the needs of our customers who live near Findlay Market and in Over-the-Rhine."

The restaurant is also important to Findlay Market because it will be open later than typical market hours. The market closes at 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and on 4 p.m. on Sundays.

Hansbauer said the market is still accepting and evaluating proposals from those interested in locating in the empty Elder Street space. He said current gaps in the market that need to be filled are a Hispanic grocery and sellers of cookware and smoked meats.

Hansbauer said about $500,000 of city and federal money went into redeveloping the three storefronts.